Supersensitive fuse



Jan. 12 1926.

A. ADELMAN SUPERSENSITIVE FUSE Filed Feb. 19, 1925 Patented Jan. 12, 1926.

PATENT OF'ECE.

ARTHUR ADELMAN, OF CHES ANING, MICHIGAN.

surnnsnnsrmvs FUSE.

Application filed February 19, 1925. Serial No. 10,341.

(GRANTED UNDER THE ACT OF MARCH 3, 1883; 22 STAT. L. 625.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR ADELMAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chesaning, county of Saginaw, and State 6 of 1V.[ichigan, have invented an Improvement in Supersensitive Fuses, of which the fol lowing is a specification.

The invention described herein may be used by the Government, or an of its oflicers 1 or employees in prosecution 0 work for the Government, or by any other person in the United States, without payment to me of any royalty thereon, in accordance with the act of March 3, 1883.

The subject of this invention is a supersensitive fuse.

The primary object of this invention is to provide a sensitive striker carrying a fixed ring pin, the assembly normally held in 90 unarmed position by locking members,

which are only disengageable from the firing pin through centrifugal force, said members adapted when moving to inoperative position to actuate the assembly until the striker is extruded to a position where it will function through statical air pressure to maintain the firing pin in armed position until impact.

Other objects and advantages are to ar- 30 range the member which carries the firing mechanism so as to maintain the elements of the fuse casing in assembly and to provide an additional bore safety device in the form of a laterally sliding member, 86 which carries the connecting element of an interrupted powder train in an eccentric extension which is constrained to axially align the powder trains when in armed position. To these and other ends, the invention consists in the construction, arrangement, and combination of elements, described hereinafter and pointed out in the claims forming a part of this ecification. 4 A practical embo ent of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of a fuse constructed in accordance with the Fig. 2 is line of 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the carrier; Fig. 4 is a view of the carrier in side elevation and partly in section;

Fig. 5 is an outside view in side elevation of one of the segments;

Fig. 6 is an inside view thereof in eleva- Fig. 7 is an end view of the slider;

gig. 8 is a View in side elevation thereof; an

Fig. 9 is a longitudinal section view of the striker head.

Referring to the drawings by numerals of reference:

The fuse casing comprises a body 10, formed with a forwardly disposed cavity 11 for the reception of a carrier 12 which is T-shaped in longitudinal section and threaded to the body until its reduced portion abuts the floor of the cavity. A hollow head 13 for completing the casing is threaded to the, projecting portion of the carrier head until it is marginally seated on the body, the carrier 12 thus serving to maintain the assembly.

The reduced portion of the carrier is bored to frictionall retain a cup 14 in which is housed a detonatmg element 15, a priming element 16, and a protective disc 17 The carrier head is likewise bored for the reception of a portion of a firing pin 18 having a collar 19 and which is fixedly carried in a stem 20 of a striker head 21 movable in the apertured nose of the head 13.

The strikerhead 21 is in the form of an inverted cup, its exterior face formed with a depression 22 which merges with the stem 20. Ports 23 are rovided in the face to permit influx of air into the striker head while the wall of the striker head is provided with apertures 24 which are normally positioned in advance of the fuse head when the striker assembly is in unarmed position. The striker head is formed with an annular flange 25 for engaging the inturned rim 26 of the head 13 whereby to limit the forward movement of thestriker.

The firing in is normally held from the primer by a ocking element which consists of a pluralit of segments 27, preferably four 1n num er, arran ed 3 etrically around the firing pin an be] together by split rings 29 disposed in a-circumferential groove 30. The limited movement of the striker head 21 prevents the firing pin from being extracted from the locking member.

The forward face of the carrier head 12 is formed with a circular depression 31'having a wall 32 (Fig. 4) oblique to the axis of the fuse to constitute a seat for the locking members 27 which are formed with inclined surfaces 28 to conform to the oblique Wall 32 of the seat 31. The inclined surfaces are provided on either end of the segments to facilitate assembly.

When linear acceleration of the projectile ceases, the locking members, being no longer opposed, are free to be moved outwardly through centrifugal force. During this movement the locking members are constrained tomove axially as well as radially of the fuse by reason of the oblique wall 32 thereby causing the firing pin to move for-' wardly to armed position and consequently extruding the striker head 21 to functioning position.

' The firing pin is maintained in armed position by the static air pressure developed in the striker head 21 when extruded, while the segments 27 are held against the wall of the hollow head 13 by centrifugal force. The air pressure exerts a constant force in all directions to overcome dynamic pressure on the exterior face of the striker head. When the striker head comes in contact with any object having an appreciable resistance to impact, the firing pm is forced rearwardly to prime the primer and detonate the detonator.

As an additional precautionary measure against premature explosion there is provided in the fuse body an interrupter powder train 33 leading from the detonator to a booster charge 34, the connecting element 35 of the powder train being carried in a member 36 slidable transversely of the fuse and inclined to prevent its movement to armed position while in the bore of the The slidable member 36 is formed with an eccentric extension 37 which carries the connecting element 35 of the powder train 33, the whole mounted in a passage 38 of the fuse body which is likewise eccentrically formed to accommodate the extension whereby rotation of the slider 1s prevented as it moves laterally. This provision is essential to insure proper axial alignment of the powder train. I

The slider is normally held in unarmed position by means of a spring 39 acting on a closure 40 which is formed with an annular flange 41 against which bears a ring nut 42. v

' When a projectile equipped with my fuse attains a predetermined rotational velocity, the slider 36 will be moved laterally through the action of centrifugal force to dispose the connecting element 35. of the powder train 33 in proper axial alignment so that on impact the flash fromthe igniting mechanism may be transmitted to the booster charge.

While in the foregoing there has been illustrated and described such combination and arrangement of elements as constitute the preferred embodiment of my invention, it is nevertheless desired to emphasize the fact that interpretation of the invention should only be conclusive when made in the light of the subjoined claims.

I claim:

1. In combination, a fuse casing having an apertured nose, an air balanceable striker head movable therein, a firing pin fixed to the striker, a carrier within the casing, a firing element in said carrier, centrifugally movable locking members seated on the carrier and encircling the firing pin, said looking members adapted on release to extrude the striker head tofunctioning position, an interru ted powder train disposed axially of the use, a transversely slidable member formed with an eccentric extension, and a connecting element of the powder train in said extension.

2. A fuse including a body formed with a forward cavity, a hollow head marginally seated on the body, a member for maintaining the assembly and abutting against the floo-r of the cavity, and a firing mechanism supported by said member.

3. A fuse lncluding a body an interrupted powder train disposed axia of the bod a cylindrical member slidablb transverse y of the body, said member formed with. an extension, a connecting element of the powder train in the extension and said extension being eccentric to prevent rotation and insure axial alignment of the powder train,

ARTHUR ADELMAN. 

